The two Gautamas fought in outer space, unable to decide a victor quickly.
At the edge of the Blazing Sun Desert below, Gu Hai’s Mending Heavenly Energy poured into Long Shenying’s body, healing almost all his injuries. While some internal injuries lingered, he would recover in time.
“Many thanks, Your Reverence,” Long Shenying said gratefully.
“Beloved official Long, there’s no need to stand on ceremony. You saved our son. Helping you is expected of us,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Yes!” Long Shenying nodded in awe.
Only now did Gu Hai raise his head to look at the battle in outer space.
“Jiang Gautama’s strength is actually equal to Vairocana’s?” Gu Hai said gravely.
“Your Reverence, to think that Jiang Gautama is this strong, much more powerful than the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon! If he has boundless blessings to support him, won’t he be undefeatable when he drives the power of his sect?” Kong Xuan marveled.
“That’s why Qin`er and Long Shenying went to destroy his blessings,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“Oh?” Kong Xuan said in shock.
Kong Xuan had been in seclusion all this time and did not know about the major events at the Spirit Mountain Holy Land in the west.
“Qin`er, beloved official Long, enter our Gu’s Immortal Firmament to recuperate first,” Gu Hai instructed.
“Yes!” the two answered.
Gu Hai waved, and the two vanished from where they were.
“Your Reverence, by sending His Highness to safety, are you…” Kong Xuan seemed to have realized something.
“That’s right. Since Jiang Gautama is here, he can forget about leaving,” Gu Hai said coldly.
“Keep Jiang Gautama here forever?” Kong Xuan narrowed his eyes.
“That’s right. You are the strongest among the Han Imperial Dynasty’s corps commanders. That’s why we brought only you here. Take down Jiang Gautama with us!” Gu Hai commanded.
“Yes!”
“Protect yourself as the top priority. Don’t push too hard!” Gu Hai looked at Kong Xuan.
“This official obeys Your Reverence’s commands!” Kong Xuan answered.
Outer space:
Countless stars revolved around the two Lord Gautama Buddhas. Every star had a buddha incarnation standing on it and chanting scriptures, clashing against each other.
The debris of many shattered stars and planets floated in the surroundings. The two’s battle had been very ferocious.
“Vairocana? Who are you? Why is your cultivation technique so similar to mine?” Jiang Gautama demanded in rage while glaring.
“Similar? Perhaps. I have been reading the Buddhist scriptures you wrote. They are very sharp, but you lost the benevolence of my Buddhism Dao. My Buddhism is benevolent and compassionate; our duty is to deliver the masses. I made a grand declaration to guard my initial intentions. Do you still have your initial intentions? Rather, that was never your intention. You lie to the world, never to reach the true essence of the Buddhism Dao!” Vairocana said coldly.
“This is my Buddhism Dao; you have no call to say anything about it. You might be strong—but just about as strong as me. You cannot do anything to me. Humph! Again!” Jiang Gautama retorted coldly.
Whoosh!
The two’s bodies shone with a bright, golden light as they both threw a palm strike again.
Each palm strike manifested a thirty-kilometer-tall manifested palm with swastikas and stars revolving around them. There seemed to be buddhas chanting the scriptures above them, amplifying the strength in each palm as they clashed.
Boom!
Space shattered, but Vairocana and Jiang Gautama maintained a stalemate with no clear victor. The many buddha incarnations fought each other.
In Great Desolation City, Ba raised her eyebrows.
“The same Gautama Divine Palm? No, they are a little different. The energies of the two Gautama Divine Palms seem mirrored?” Ba said in surprise.
In Xuanyuan City, Ji Dihong narrowed his eyes.
“The two Gautama Divine Palms seem to align with Yin and Yang; one is Yin and the other is Yang, the conception of Taiji? How strange!” Ji Dihong marveled.
Cangjie muttered to himself; then his eyes widened in shock, apparently in an epiphany.
As everyone was surprised, a sudden change occurred in the two Gautamas’ battlefield.
Buzz!
Suddenly, an azure beam of light containing a humongous peacock image soared into the sky. Countless peacock plume feathers filled the surroundings. Simultaneously, many Kong Xuan clones holding six-colored divine light appeared, showing cold expressions.
As Jiang Gautama and Vairocana maintained their stalemate, they immediately understood what had happened when they saw the azure light.
Jiang Gautama sneered, “Kong Xuan? Humph! Do you really think this buddha is easy to bully? This buddha maintained a stalemate only because I wanted to test him out. Since you are getting involved, don’t blame this buddha for not holding back!”
Boom!
A loud report rang out as Jiang Gautama’s palm broke away from Vairocana’s palm, creating shock waves that rushed at the many Kong Xuan clones.
“Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus, encompass the world!” Jiang Gautama shouted.
As Jiang Gautama extended his hand, the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus flew out of his palm. Under his control, the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus turned five hundred kilometers wide and descended from above, like an umbrella over everything. The lotus flower’s petals closed, as if to trap all three of them within it.
A suction came from the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus, appearing to seal off space. When Kong Xuan tried to flee, he could not.
The Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus encompassed the world; everything would enter it.
“The twelfth-ranked of the top sixteen ancient treasures? The Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus? Although the Mosquito Daoist ate three petals, it is still as powerful in Jiang Gautama’s hand. Encompassing the world? Once one enters the lotus, one will fall into Jiang Gautama’s control!” Ji Dihong said with narrowed eyes.
“The Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus? Back then, it suffered at the hands of Jiang Lianshan’s Divine Farmer Hoe, ruining three petals. The Mosquito Daoist later took advantage of this and ate those three petals. However, it is still a supreme treasure of the Buddhism Dao. I believe Vairocana doesn’t have a treasure of a similar level. The victor is decided,” Ba said coldly.
It looked like Vairocana and Kong Xuan would fall with this move.
However, Vairocana suddenly waved his hand.
Buzz!
Another Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus flew out of Vairocana’s hand.
“What?” Jiang Gautama’s expression changed.
This is impossible. The Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus was birthed by the world when the world was first created. There is only one. Why does he have one too? Furthermore, given the broken stem, it also had three petals eaten away? Is this real?
Indeed, it was the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus in Vairocana’s hand.
When Vairocana activated the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus, it also turned five hundred kilometers wide and encompassed the world from below.
Two titanic Nine-Petaled Golden Lotuses faced each other, clashing in outer space.
Boom!
A loud report rang out as countless planetary bodies shattered; no victor emerged.
“A second Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus? How can this be?!” Ji Dihong exclaimed.
Ba also narrowed her eyes, clearly puzzled.
Rumble…!
The two Nine-Petaled Golden Lotuses—one above and one below—maintained a stalemate with no victor emerging. Vairocana instantly approached, and Jiang Gautama threw a palm strike in response.
Boom!
Vairocana attacked with a ferocious momentum, and the two resumed their stalemate.
“Where did your Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus come from? Why do you have one?” Jiang Gautama roared, feeling depressed.
“I got it however you got yours,” Vairocana said with a smile.
“I got mine from the Nalanda Temple; did you too?” Jiang Gautama goggled, apparently skeptical.
“That’s right. My Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus also came from the Nalanda Temple. It used to be a Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus, but the Mosquito Daoist ate three petals, turning it into the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus,” Vairocana said sadly.
Of course, Vairocana referred to Earth’s Mosquito Daoist, but Jiang Gautama did not know.
“Huh?” Jiang Gautama was stupefied.
You too? What kind of sick joke is this?
The Mosquito Daoist in Borderless Heavenly Capital was also stupefied.
Although the Mosquito Daoist did not go, he was paying close attention to this battle. With his current strength, he could still make out what was happening at the Han Imperial Dynasty’s borders when he fully focused, even though his view was not as clear as what Gu Hai could see. Naturally, there were also reports from the nearby spies via the zither puppets.
“Mosquito Daoist, you also ate three petals of his golden lotus?” Ao Sheng said in shock.
The stupefied Mosquito Daoist retorted with a dark expression, “I’m not taking the blame for this!”
While the Mosquito Daoist was depressed, another change happened in the distant battlefield.
As the two Lord Gautama Buddhas maintained a stalemate, the ten thousand Kong Xuans simultaneously swung six-colored divine lights at Jiang Gautama’s back.
“Evil beast, you are courting death!” Jiang Gautama roared furiously.
Jiang Gautama was already quite depressed. Kong Xuan is still trying to attack me from behind? Isn’t that causing more trouble for me?
Whoosh!
A bright halo suddenly appeared behind Jiang Gautama, like a blazing sun illuminating the nearby space. Then ten thousand Jiang Gautamas appeared in the surroundings.
“The divine Dao’s domain?” Kong Xuan’s expression changed.
Ten thousand Jiang Gautamas combated ten thousand Kong Xuans.
Boom!
The Jiang Gautamas cut apart many of the six-colored divine lights. Then they all attacked simultaneously, wanting to destroy Kong Xuan.
However, someone suddenly appeared nearby at this moment. It was Gu Hai.
Gu Hai stood in space, waiting for Kong Xuan to distract Jiang Gautama. He opened the heavenly eye on his forehead, and a crimson beam of Divinity Destroying Light shot out.
Boom!
That Divinity Destroying Light streaked towards one of Jiang Gautama’s clones.
“What?!” Jiang Gautama’s expression changed, but he could not dodge.
This happened quickly. How could Jiang Gautama expect Gu Hai to appear without warning?
The Divinity Destroying Light instantly pierced that Jiang Gautama clone. This was part of Gu Hai’s plan. He could not miss with ten thousand Jiang Gautamas. After all, there was only one shot of Divinity Destroying Light left.
Boom!
A large hole appeared in the chests of all the ten thousand Jiang Gautamas.
Bang!
The ten thousand Jiang Gautamas instantly vanished, leaving the true body that was maintaining a stalemate with Vairocana.
The two had initially been on even footing. However, the Divinity Destroying Light blasted a large hole in Jiang Gautama’s chest, weakening him. Now, Vairocana’s full power struck the severely injured Jiang Gautama’s body.
Boom!
Blargh!
Jiang Gautama spewed a mouthful of blood before flying back and heavily crashing into his Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus.
The Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus immediately shrank and wrapped around the severely injured Jiang Gautama, protecting him.
“Gu Hai, you…! How dare you!” Jiang Gautama roared in rage.
The Vairocana’s Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus also shrank. Now, he stood on it as he flew over to Jiang Gautama.
Gu Hai had severely injured Jiang Gautama in the chest, and Vairocana dealt him a heavy blow. The situation instantly changed.
“Jiang Gautama is about to lose? We underestimated Gu Hai. Humph!” The distant Ji Dihong’s face sank.
“The Divinity Destroying Light? Gu Hai? Hah! Without the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s blessings to protect him, Jiang Gautama has no place to hide in this vast world.” Ba narrowed her eyes slightly.
These two heavenly emperors had not expected Jiang Gautama to lose this quickly. Was the Spirit Mountain Holy Land going to be annihilated? Jiang Gautama was now severely injured. How could he escape from Vairocana?
